In the digital signal processing technology typically one or more analog signals which are representative of some real physical property are filtered or undergo some other kind of arithmetic evaluation or transformation. For this purpose, it is necessary to sample the incoming analog signals. For each analog signal this results in a continuous stream of digital samples. Furthermore, it is known in the art to store such separate sequences of digital samples separately from each other in different memories or in the same memory but separated address spaces. An example for micro processors which incorporate these principles is the DSP 56300 family of 24-bit digital signal processors which are commercially available from Motorola, Inc.
Digital signal processors are applied in virtually all fields of technology and apparatuses. One application is to replace the functionality of an analog device, such as an analog filter, by a digital filter which allows for an enhanced quality and more compact design. Other fields are for digital audio devices, such as compact disc players or digital audio tapes, as well as communication devices, such as mobile telephones or radios. Such applications typically require a high processor throughput, either because of the high band width of the sample's analog signal or because of the complexity of the digital transformations to be carried out on the sampled signal or a combination of both.
A need therefore exists to increase the performance of digital signal processors.